198 Tires and wheels
cargo and lugg age load ca
pacity is 650 lb s. (1400-750
(5
X 150) = 650 lb s.)
5. Determin e the combined
weight of luggage and cargo
being loaded on the vehicle .
That weight may not safely exceed the a vailable cargo
and luggage load capacity
c alculated in Step
4.
6. If your vehicle will be towing
a trailer , load from your trail
er w ill be tran sferred to your
vehi cle . Consult this manual
to determine how thi s re
duces the available cargo
and luggage load capacity of
your vehicle.
.,.Che ck the tire sidewall
( ¢ page 199 , fig. 153) to de
termine the designated load rating for a specific tire.
Tire service life
The service life of tires depends on a lot of
diff erent things i ncluding prop er installation
and balancing, correct tire pressure and driv ·
ing s tyle.
Fig. 152 T ire tread: trea d wea r ind icators (TWI)
Tread Wear Indicator (TWI)
The orig in al tires on yo ur vehi cle ha ve
1/ 16 inch ( 1.6 mm) hig h "wear indica tors"
¢ fig . 152 ru nning acro ss the tread . Depend·
ing on the ma ke , t here will be six to e ight of
them even ly placed aro und the tire. Marks on
t he tire sidewall (for example "TWI" or ot her
symbols) ind icate the pos itions of the tread
wea r indica to rs. Wor n tir es must be rep laced .
Differ ent figures may apply in othe r countries
¢ .&_ .
Tire pressure
Incor rect t ire pressure causes premature wea r
and can cause sudde n tire blow-out . For this
reason, tire pressu re must be checked at least
o nce a month
¢ page 195.
Driving style
Driving fast around c urves, heavy accele rat ion
and hard braking increase tire wear .
Wheel balancing
The wheels on new ve hicles are balance d.
However, va rious s ituations dur ing everyday
driv ing can cause them to become unbal·
anced, resulting in vib rations you can usually
feel t hrough the steer ing whee l.
Unb alanced w hee ls m ust be rebalance d to
avo id excessive wear on steering, suspension
and ti res. A whee l m ust also be reba lanced
whe n a new tire is insta lled.
Incorrect wheel alignment
Incor rect wheel alig nment can cause exces
s ive tire wear , impa iring the safety of the vehi
cle.
If tires show excessive wear , have the
w hee l alignment chec ked by an authoriz ed
Audi deal er or qualified wo rksh op.
All-wheel drive
Only the wheel/ti re sizes specif ied by the
manufacture r may be used on veh icles with
all-wheel drive. For detai ls see ¢
page 155.
What do I do now? Trunk escape handle
Appl ies to vehicles: with trunk escape handle
In case of an emergency, the front lid can be
opened from the inside using the trunk es
cape handle.
.. To open the front lid pull the handle.
The trunk escape handle inside the luggage
compartment is made of fluorescent mate ria l
to g low in the dark.
.&_ WARNING
The trunk escape handle is to be used only
in an emergency.
Breakdown kit
The breakdown kit consists of vehicle tool kit
and tire mobility system.
Fig. 154 Breakdown kit in luggage compartment
@ Vehicle too l kit
@ Tire mobility system¢ page 213
The breakdown kit is located in the luggage
compartment unde r the cargo floor .
The tool kit consists of the following items :
- Hook for removing hub cap
- Lug wrench
- Alignment pin for changing wheels
- Screwdriver w ith reversible blade
- T owing eye
- Jack* (not a vehicle component; contact your
authorized Aud i dealer if needed)
Before returning the jack* to its place, retract
the jack arm fully .
What do I do now ? 213
Note: some of the items listed above are pro
vided on certain mode ls only or are optional
extras.
.&_ WARNING
- Never use the hexagonal socket in the
handle of the screwdriver to loosen or
tighten the whee l bolts .
- The jack* (available as a replacement
pa rt) is intended only for your vehicle
model. Under no circumstances use it to
lift heavy v ehicles o r other loads; yo u risk
inju ring yourse lf.
- Never start or r un the eng ine while the
veh icle is supported by the jac k*.
- If you must work unde r the vehicle, al
ways use saf ety stands specifically de
signed fo r th is purpose.
- Using a bumpe r jac k to ra ise the vehicle
wi ll damage the b umpe r system. The
jack may slip, ca using injury.
Tire repair
General and safety pointers
Tire repair is intended only for temporary,
short-term use .
Fig. 155 Ti re damage for which the Tire Mob ility Sys
tem is not suited
-
Your vehicle is equipped wi th a tire repa ir k it,
the
Tire M obility Sy ste m (TMS ).
In the event of a t ire failure, the TMS is in the
luggage compartment under the floor.
It con
s ists of the tire sealan t an d a n elec tric air
pump.
218 What do I do n ow ?
-On hard, slippery sur face (such as tiles)
use a rubber mat or similar to prevent
the jack from slipping.
- To help prevent injury to yourself and
your passenge rs:
- Do not raise the vehicle unti l you a re
sure the ja ck is sec urely engaged.
- Passenge rs must not rema in i n the ve
h icl e when it is ja cked up.
- Make sure t hat passengers wait in a
safe p lace away from the vehicle and
well away from the road and traffi c.
- Make sure jack position is correct , ad
just as necessary and then continue to ra ise the jack.
CD Note
A floo r jack or the pads on the hoist arms
m ust
n ot be posit ioned at the points
shown
-arrows-.
Remov ing the wheel
Follow these instructions step-by-step for
changing the wheel.
F ig . 161 Wh eel ch an ge : alignment pin in side the t op
hole
After you have loosened all wheel bolts and
ra ised the vehicle off the ground, perform the
following steps to remove and rep lace the
wheel :
Removing the wheel
" Use the
hexagon al socke t in the screwdri v
e r handle
to comp letely turn out the top
most wheel bolt and set it as ide on a
clean
surface . "
Sc rew the threaded end of the
al ignment
pin
from t he tool kit hand-tight into the
now vacant bolt ho le
c::> fig . 161.
" Then completely unscrew the other wheel
bolts as described above.
" Take off the whee l leaving the a lignment pin
in the bolt hole
c::> (D .
Putting on the wheel
"Lift the spare whee l and carefully s lide it
over the alignment p in to guide it in place
c::> (D .
" Use the hexagonal socket in the screwdriver
ha ndle to screw in and tighten a ll whee l
bolts
slightly .
"Unscrew the alignment p in and inse rt and
tighten the rema ining wheel bolt slightly
like the rest.
" Turn the jack hand le counter-clockwise to
lower the vehicle until the jack is fully re
leased.
T he wheel bo lts must be clean and turn easily.
Check the contact s urfaces of whee l and hub .
Remove contaminants on these surfaces be
fore insta lling the wheel.
T he hexagonal socket in the screwdriver han
dle makes it easier to handle the w heel bo lts.
The reversible blade shou ld be removed .
When mounting
u nidire ctional ti res, observe
the d irection o f rotation
c::> page 216.
CD Note
When remov ing or inst alling the whee l,
t he r im cou ld hi t the b ra ke ro tor and dam
age the rotor . Work caref ully an have a
second person help you.
(D Tips
Never use the he xagonal socket in the han
dle of t he screwdriver to loosen or tighten
the wheel bo lts .